US to keep forces along Korean DMZ

The United States is planning to keep an artillery brigade stationed near the buffer zone that separates North and South Korea.

South Korea asked the US to keep the 2nd Infantry Division’s 210th Fires Brigade at Camp Casey in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) earlier this week during military consultations in Seoul, South Korea’s Yonhap News reported.

American officials in the meetings “repeatedly and strongly” pushed to keep the unit in Dongducheon in order to maintain combat readiness, as the rest of American forces are set to relocate to the southern half of South Korea, the report said.

A spokeswoman for US Forces Korea said Friday that “any decision to temporarily leave US forces north of the Han (River) will be based on operational necessity. The goal of all (South Korean) and US alliance initiatives is to build adaptive capabilities to deter and defeat future provocations and fight and win should deterrence fail.”

Earlier this month, South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense said that no American residual forces would remain along the DMZ.

USFK commander Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti said last November that they were considering leaving some forces in Area I, which includes cities of Dongducheon and Uijeongbu, after the relocation.

“There may be a need, operationally, to leave some residual in those areas just for proper defense and response,” he said. “It is a sensitive issue, but we will work our way through it and do what is best for Korea and what is best for the defense of Korea.”

The long-delayed relocation is scheduled for 2016-17, according to military officials. The relocation was originally set for 2008, which was postponed to 2012, only to be further delayed to 2016.

Crime, noise and base pollution are some of the reasons why local people do not want any residual forces to remain in Area I. City officials were also displeased to hear US troops might linger even longer in their area, since they want to continue development plans in the lands occupied by US bases.

“Residents won’t stand by and let this happen,” head of the Dongducheon City Assembly, Jang Young Mi, said, adding that citizens formed a task force earlier this year to push for the relocation to take place in 2016.

AN/AGB